


i will be the sun (i will wake you up)

by tomorrows



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, Fluff, Genderswap, Girl Direction, OT5 Friendship, except for liam she rolls with the dolphins that's a whole other story, lesbian mermaid princess gang on deck, this is literally the most PG thing i have ever written in my entire life where is my job @ disney
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 14:06:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2194596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrows/pseuds/tomorrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"You're quite cute when you get all fussy about true love, you know that?"</em>
</p><p>  <em>Harry’s conviction falters for a second. “Thank you,” she deadpans. “It means very much a lot to me.”</em></p><p> </p><p>AU where Zayn gets turned into a mermaid, Harry and Louis are soulmates, and everyone's a princess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i will be the sun (i will wake you up)

**Author's Note:**

> hi i know i wasn't supposed to write anything but i like mermaids and princesses and this happened and i'm sorry i'll see you guys in december (for real this time) 
> 
> thank you so very much to leah and emily and tashie :D xx
> 
> title from fun.'s "out on the town"
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr](http://tornorrows.tumblr.com/)

In all the years that Harry has known Niall there has not been a single instance in which she’s truly had a _good_ idea. Every one of her ingenious adventures has been nothing more than a horrible suggestion masked as an opportunity to expand their horizons; always unfit for royalty and usually resulting in Harry being attacked by seagulls. As a result, Harry is now neither a fan of that one flock of seagulls on the border between the Styles/Tomlinson seas or Princess Niall Horan’s “good ideas”.

“Can you stop whining, at least? You’re totally ruining the mood.”

Harry huffs indignantly, gaping at Niall beside her on the rock. The _audacity_ , honestly. “Are we just going to pretend a storm isn’t coming so you can sit here making heart eyes at your silly _human_ ,” she grumbles. She really doesn’t mean to sound as petulant as she does, but her scales get sensitive when the weather changes and she’s not at all interested in the human girl Niall’s been ogling for the last hour. She can’t even _swim_ , apparently, if the way she’s refused to jump into the water like the rest of her entourage of silly two-legged creatures is anything to go by.

Harry must say that aloud because Niall snaps her head at Harry’s direction and glares, unimpressed and already defensive of the apple of her eye. “She doesn’t need to swim; she’s a princess.”

“What kind of princess can’t swim? That’s like Royalty 101 when—”

“A _human_ princess,” Niall corrects. “They don’t need to swim, Harry. They have, like, legs and horses and stuff.”

“Why do they use horses if they have their own legs? That’s not very nice to the horses. That's quite lazy, actually.”

Niall groans in frustration and pushes herself off the rock they've been perched on. Sometimes when she gets overwhelmed she likes to pretend she’s a drowning human who's lost consciousness. It’s very concerning, but as it stands, Harry would like to drown herself too if she has to spend even another second creepily staring at these humans. She gives Niall 15 seconds of unnecessarily melodramatic pouting before pulling her out of the water.

“You didn’t drag me all the way to the other side of the kingdom to pout, Niall Horan.”

Niall lets out a small whimper and flops belly down onto one of the rocks that keeps them hidden from the humans on the ship. “She’s just so _pretty_ ,” Niall sighs. “Have you ever seen someone that ridiculously beautiful under the sea, Harold? And I'll never get to have her! Unrequited love is the last true form of torture, mate."

Just as Niall lets out another exaggerated sigh, a ripple of thunder cracks through the sky. Harry looks up at the clouds, stormy and angry and ominous. She has a bad feeling in her tail and it really doesn't get much better when she looks toward the ship, sees the humans getting back on board. The shore isn't too far away, but by the looks of it they're not headed in that direction.

"Harry—"

"What?" Harry asks, eyes still focused on the ship before them. Why would they sail out when they could go dock and settle on the island? Why do humans completely disregard Mother Nature’s warnings? _Idiots_.

"Remember how you were making fun of my silly crush—"

"I wasn't making fun of you, Niall, I was simply—"

She's cut off by Niall grabbing her head and forcing her to turn her attention to the opposite end of the rocks where there's a splash of water and a glimpse of a blue tail and then—

"Is that—?" Her eyes widen in shock as she takes in the sight of a lithe body breaking through the water and jumping onto a large rock, golden chestnut hair wet and seashells a perfect shade of cerulean to match both her tail and the colored tips of her hair. _Shit_. "What the hell is she doing here?" Harry all but screeches. "I thought the Princess was on diplomacy duty!"

Her head is still in Niall's hands. It's very difficult being shocked when you can't move your head dramatically. Harry is not having a good time.

"I guess she's back," Niall shrugs. "Probably got bored at the Payne Kingdom and begged her mum to let her come home. I know I would."

"And her hair is _blue_ now," Harry gasps, completely ignoring Niall.

She hasn't seen Princess Louis in years; not since all the kingdoms of the sea signed The Treaty and Louis, heir to the Tomlinson Kingdom, was sent off to the Sea of Payne (unintentional pun) as a diplomat. She was only 18 then and Harry surely doesn't remember her with blue hair or the little jewel in belly. Granted, the only time Harry _had_ seen Louis was at the occasional ball or royal event, maybe a total of ten or so times in her entire life. Not much, but it'd been enough to convince Harry that Louis has always been the unofficial Love of Her Life. (Even if they’ve never actually interacted.)

And now that she's back and blue and _sparkly_ Harry thinks her brain is actually short-circuiting. Why would Louis do this to her? Just pop up out of nowhere looking like she's ready to reclaim her title as the most beautiful mermaid of all the seas. Unrequited love is not supposed to be this painful. Harry can understand now why Niall pretend-human-drowns herself so often.

"I wanna kiss her."

Niall finally frees Harry's head. "Back to where we were two years ago then, huh?"

Harry ignores her again and starts shuffling along the rocks. "Shut up, just switch spots with me."

"Why?"

"Because then I have a better view of Louis and you have a better view of whatsherface. Come on, stop acting like you don't want to."

For the sake of her good name and sea cred, Niall pretends to grumble as she switches spots with Harry. She’s probably squealing on the inside, but Harry won’t make fun of her just yet seeing as _the love of her whole entire existence since the beginning of time_ is back and she’s not doing much better. She’s happily swooning at Louis shaking the water out of her hair when something in the sea catches her eyes.

“Niall?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there a reason why Princess Liam is yelling at my future wife?”

“What the hell are you on about?” Niall asks.

She turns around and lo and behold, Princess Liam, the youngest of the Payne Kingdom's royal family, is waving her arms in quite a distressed manner and screeching, red faced and bobbing in the water. They're not close enough to hear why exactly Liam's got her seashells in a twist, but based on the unimpressed look on Louis' face, she's not exactly listening either.

"What is Liam even doing here?" Harry grumbles. "It's not like she's heir to her throne or something."

"Well it's not like we are either," Niall reminds her.

Niall's got Greg and Harry's got Gemma and neither of their parents have any intention of stepping down any time soon, so it doesn't mean much to be the next in line. Liam, on the other hand, is the third in line to rule. The only person who's fortune really means much of anything is Princess Louis, the eldest of 7 in his family line, with a mother who's said to be bored of running an entire kingdom. (Harry doesn't blame her; she's glad Gemma's taking one for the team so she can spend all of her time hopefully reproducing an entire kingdom of Styles-Tomlinson merbabies. She's got a very one-tracked mind in that matter.)

When Harry expresses this sentiment to Niall – not for the first time – she all but shoos her off. "Whatever, Haz, but you might wanna start with making sure Liam doesn't bite your wife's head off first." She points to where Louis is now in the water, yelling right back at Liam's face.

Harry's forehead hurts from furrowing her brows so deeply. "That is not my kind of pal," she pouts. "I'm going to go see what's up."

Just as Harry's about to jump into the water Niall grabs her arm, a look of panic quickly paling her cheeks. "As great an idea as that sounds, Haz," she whispers worryingly, "I don't really think now's the best time to defend her honor."

As if on cue the previously stormy clouds above them go even darker, casting out the sun entirely. A rumble of thunder echoes through the sky and Niall's hold on Harry's arm tightens. Harry turns to her, swallowing down a gulp of fear. "Let's just get back home," she suggests. It's never a good idea to stay out when Mother Nature is unhappy, and Harry isn't really in the mood to test out that theory today.

Niall nods in agreement and the two of them jump into the water, quickly turning their tails in the direction home. It's only when a bolt of lightning breaks through the clouds that Harry realizes just how bad of an idea today had been all along. The rest, of course, is all fate.

~

Louis doesn't really have any interest in humans. They're not very smart nor inventive and apparently they're also stupid enough to try and sail out in the middle of a storm. Louis doesn't particularly feel any sympathy for the humans who've hunted the waters she calls home from the beginning of time, so she's not exactly sure how or why she ends up trying to save one of them. Or how she ends up doing so with three other princesses from three other kingdoms – one of whom is apparently _in love_ with this creature.

"You know, when my mum sent me out to be a diplomat and strengthen kingdom ties, I don't really think she was referring to our relationship with the humans, if I'm honest."

"Louis, this is seriously not the time to—"

Louis slaps her tails a little harshly at Liam's face behind her. "I've got a dead human princess in me arms, Liam, when the bloody hell else am I supposed to acknowledge how ridiculous this situation is?"

"She's not really _dead_ , is she?"

Louis turns her right, where a wide-eyed mess of a mermaid swims beside her, brown curls flopping over her chest and dainty fingers pulling at her lips. She looks familiar, Louis isn't really sure why, but she's pretty and speaks quite softly and she's not wearing any shells, so. Apparently a nudist as well. A nudist mermaid who somehow dragged Louis into a blazing shipwreck to save the life of the human princess her best mate is in love with.

Louis looks down at the lifeless figure in her arms. Of course she's dead. She's a human who is currently being dragged down to the bottom of the sea. There's not exactly any chance of survival here.

"But your mum has a potion, right?"

Louis turns to her left, where said friend-in-love-with-the-human is looking at her, face pale and eyes worrying. The hesitancy and fear doesn't really sit right on her face, as if it's completely foreign to her usual behavior. Louis wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"She should, yes," Louis assures them. "Don't know how happy she'll be to use it on this one here, but it doesn't hurt to try."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

Liam swims up in front of them and explains with a sigh, "She means that Queen Jay isn't exactly keen on the idea of saving the same people who've been polluting her home with toxic waste for years now. Princess Lottie even got sick once—"

"Just don't get your hopes up, alright?" Louis quickly interrupts, fixing Liam with a nasty glare. The isn't exactly the best time to go spilling royal secrets, after all. "There's no guarantee of anything. We may end up having to bring her back to shore. Maybe someone will come by and recognize her body and give her a proper burial or whatever."

At the mention of a burial Louis notices the way the blond to her left shrinks in on herself. The nudist to her right picks up on it as well and shuffles over to her side. Louis doesn't miss the way the two of them immediately go to hold hands and curl up against one another. If one of them hadn't already professed their love to the human in Louis' arms, she might have assumed something more.

"Who are you two, by the way?" Louis asks suspiciously. It's not every day that you see a pair of mermaids people-watching and swimming into fires to save dying princesses. "You look kind of familiar."

The brunette picks her head up. "I'm Harry and this is Niall."

"I'm Louis. The blabber mouth over there is Liam, but she's not much fun."

"Heeey," Liam grumbles.

Louis just shrugs her shoulders, nonplussed. The truth hurts, whatever. "Why do I feel like I've seen you two before though? Especially you, Curly."

Harry blushes to herself, eyes widening at being called out and almost getting herself completely tangled up in seaweed. "Um. I don't know. My mum's the queen of the Styles Kingdom so maybe—"

"Wait!" Liam stops swimming in front of them and turns around, stopping everyone else as well. "You're Harry Styles? As in _Princess_ Harry Styles?"

"Um. Yeah, I guess."

"What, are you not sure of your own identity?"

"Bloody hell," Niall groans, pulling away from Harry's arms. "I'm Princess Niall of the Horan Kingdom, this is Princess Harry of the Styles Kingdom, you're Princess Liam of the Payne-in-me-fucking-arse Kingdom, and Louis over there is the heir Princess of the Tomlinson Kingdom. Now that we've all thoroughly introduced ourselves, how about we do something about the human princess we nearly risked our lives to save?"

The three of them stare in awe at the frustrated little pink-cheeked blond.

"Alright then," Louis clears her throat. "Let's give Niall here a living chance at falling in love, princesses."

~

Zayn wakes up feeling – _Zayn wakes up_. Zayn _wakes up_. She blinks her eyes open and immediately feels like she's choking, sinking, being crushed by an unbearable force all around her. She shakes her arms out, reaching for help or someone or _something_ , anything, but just ends up being flipping upside down.

" _Shit_ ," comes a worried voice not far away.

There's a blur and then she's being flipped back into up upright position. There's a girl in front of her holding her by her shoulders and the girl – _is a fucking mermaid_ what the fucking fuck.

"Stop trying to breathe through your lungs," the girl yells, sliding her hands up Zayn's neck. "Use your gills, come on. You don't need your lungs, work with me here, mate."

Zayn gasps, suffocating and light-headed, but the girl smacks her across the head and Zayn does as she's told. Slowly, each second a little less painful than the previous one, Zayn begins to breathe again. She doesn't know how long it takes – and it must take quite some time, she's sure – but the mermaid-girl-thing stays right there with her the entire time, patiently counting aloud and helping Zayn build a pattern of easier, more comfortable breaths.

"Better?" she asks when Zayn stops feeling – and probably looking – like she's going to die

"A bit, yeah?" Zayn speaks slowly. Her voice sounds different to her ears, but maybe that's just because she's underwater with a fucking mermaid. "Do you mind me asking what the fuck I'm doing here?" she blunders, not doing a very good job of keeping the hysteria out of her voice.

"Well, I'm Niall, and you almost died in a shipwreck a few days ago so my mates and I saved you. That's what you're doing here."

"Okay, alright." Zayn nods her head, trying to keep the blaring scream going off inside her strictly internal. "And I'm guessing turning me into a mermaid was part of the whole keeping-me-alive thing, right?"

Niall, the blonde mermaid with the choppy hair and the pink cheeks, nods. "Kind of," she giggles. "Sorry about that."

Zayn was not aware that mermaids could giggle. She was also not aware that mermaids giggling was so endearingly cute. She's guessing that probably just has to do with this Niall girl, though.

"Would you like to meet the rest of the girls who helped save you from your burning ship and immediate death?" Niall deadpans innocently.

Zayn rolls her eyes. "You're just going to keep bringing up this whole heroic life-saving rescue thing until I come to my senses and thank you, right?"

She might be a bloody fucking mermaid now, but she's not exactly an idiot. Maybe her boat catching on fire in the middle of the storm and nearly ending her life isn't really helping out her argument, but she’s sharp as a tack on a normal day. And in her defense, this is very much _not_ a normal day.

"It's only fair," Niall says. "Come on, Harry's really excited to meet you."

Niall grabs her hand before Zayn can even bother to mull over her offer – not that she would, realistically, because she has no fucking where she is and she hasn't got much to gain from just standing there floating – and the next thing she knows, she's being dragged through what seems to be a very large and elegant underwater castle. She sees dolphins and little shrimps and a _shark_ — an actual shark that just casually swims right by her, laughing with its friends. Because that's what sharks do; they laugh with their pals about silly knock-knock jokes, and apparently Zayn understands them now because she understands shark language _because she's a mermaid_.

"Niall, I think I'm going to be sick—"

"Here we are!"

Zayn’s barely kept from vomiting in her mouth when she looks up and finds herself in a different room, large and elegantly decorated. It looks like one of the family rooms in her castle back home, except everything isn’t made from mahogany and marble and gold and there are mermaids floating about instead of human.

“You’re awake!” one of the mermaids squeals. She jumps out of her seat and swims over to Zayn excitedly. “Hello I’m Harry it’s very nice to meet you do you like your tail?” she squeals in a single breath.

Zayn stares at the eager brunette in front of her; big, green, cartoonish eyes, hands clasped together underneath her chin and staring at Zayn in awe. She’s smiling so wildly that Zayn can individually count every single one of her teeth. She’d find her endearing, but as it stands, she’s an overeager mermaid and Zayn is still currently trying not to vomit all over herself.

Harry, the naked brunette with the seashell necklace, turns to Niall and frowns. “Is she okay? Did she lose her voice in the transition or something?”

“She’s fine, Hazza, just give her some room,” another voice sighs. A smaller mermaid swims up to Harry’s side and sticks her hand out. “I’m Louis, it’s nice to finally see you alive—”

“See me alive?” Zayn gasps.

“Burning ship - almost died - mermaid potion — _remember_?” Nialls reminds from beside her.

Oh. Yes, that part. Zayn can only wonder how that magically slipped her mind in the last hour or so that she’s been awake _as a mermaid_. “I think I need to sit down.”

Niall quickly helps her across the room to an empty seat next to yet another mermaid. “Jesus Christ,” Zayn groans, burying her face in her hands. “Why are there so many of you?!”

The girl beside her makes a sound of offended protest, but Zayn shrugs her off. These girls may have saved her life, but surely she’s allowed to be at least a _little_ upset about leaving her entire life behind God knows how many miles away.

“You’re in the largest kingdom of the sea, mate, I suggest the sooner you wrap your head around our existence the easier your little transition will be.”

“Lou—” Harry gasps.

Zayn looks up from her hands just in time to see her pinching Louis’ arm disapprovingly. They have some sort of bickering conversation with their eyes for a few moments before Louis flaps her fin stubbornly and turns to Zayn, arms crossed and rolling her big blue eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles under her breath.

“Sorry for _what_ , Lou?” Harry pushes.

“I’m _sorry_ for being short with you, Zayn. It’s not your fault that we all nearly died trying to save you and you’re alive now wishing there were less of us to bother your precious human-land-people-friends above. It’s a travesty, I apologize.”

And despite the completely silent shock that fills the room, Zayn finds herself bubbling out a loud guffaw.  

Confused, Harry grabs Louis by the wrist and drags her out of the room. “I’m sorry, just give us a minute please.”

“I’m just gonna…” The dirty blond beside them gets off her seat and swims away as well, a little awkward and bumping into glowfish on her way out.

“Your friends are interesting,” Zayn giggles into her hand when it’s just her and Niall in the room.

“That what you get when you befriend a group of princesses,” Niall shrugs. “Sorry they’re sort of… Vocal. Harry’s actually the only one I’m close with. Louis and Liam over there just sorta happened to be there when we found you. This is her family’s castle, by the way.”

“Hence the warm welcome.”

Niall laughs. “She’s a bit blunt, I guess you could say.”

“It’s understandable, I think. There weren’t a lot of timid princess back where I was from either. Mum used to say it was a sign of weakness, or something. Have to protect the matriarchy, ya know?” She turns to Niall, not really expecting her to understand the complexities of silly human life, but the smaller blond nods her head and smiles softly. “Is that what it’s like here too?” Zayn asks.

“You mean the matriarchal society or the brash princesses part? Because the answer is yes to both, but I like to think we’re a bit nicer to each other down here.”

“Down here…” Zayn repeats. She lets out a long sigh and hangs her head, her yellow tail coming into view. She tries to move it and smiles when her fin flaps against the water, little golden scales sparkling. This is just too fucking weird; feels like a horrible nightmare gone wrong. “How long have I been _down here_ , exactly?" she asks, confused. "You said there was the storm and the wreck but I don’t – I don’t know how long ago that was.”

“About three days,” Niall informs her sadly. “Louis’ mum said that’s how long it takes the potion to set in so – three days, yeah. That’s how long you’ve been here. Kind of knocked out, but still.”

“And this is, like, permanent or whatever? I’m just going to be stuck this way?”

And for some reason Niall doesn’t immediately respond to that. When Zayn looks up at her she finds her frowning, drawing little circles in the sand with her fin. “ _Yes_ , you’re stuck ‘this way,’” Niall mumbles after a while. “I’m sorry that’s so troubling to you.”

And with that she, too, rises from her seat and swims out the room, leaving Zayn entirely on her own.

So she's a mermaid now. Okay.

~

"I don't think Niall is very good at wooing her human princess," Louis whispers under her breath. She pushes away from the crack in the wall they've been staring through in an attempt to listen in on Niall and Zayn's conversation, and lets out a disappointed sigh.

Harry pushes off as well and fixes her with a glare. "You are not in the best position to judge, Lewis."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that you could have been a lot nicer in there, you know. Imagine if you had to suddenly give up your tail for human legs. You wouldn't exactly be the happiest fish in the sea, pal."

"But I wouldn't be stupid enough to—" She doesn't get another word in before Harry's slapping a hand over her mouth and shutting her up by force.

"I don't care what you would have done differently," Harry says. "What I care about is helping Niall win over the girl she's been eyeing for quite some time. Now, are you going to get your head out of tail and help me out or are you just going to stand there and pout?"

In her defense, she comes off a lot more forceful than she was aiming for, but if she's learned anything in the last few days, it's that beating around the coral with Princess Louis of the Tomlinson Kingdom is neither productive nor the way to her heart. And if the slow grin that breaks out on Louis' face after her little spiel is anything to go by, Harry's been doing just fine these last three days.

She removes her hand from Louis’ mouth, feigning indifference at being allowed to touch her at all. (She still gets shivers down her fin, even after three days of constant touching and silly banter. Louis is still the prettiest mermaid of the sea; Harry is very weak.)

"You're quite cute when you get all fussy about true love, you know that?"

Harry’s conviction falters for a second. “Thank you,” she deadpans. “It means very much a lot to me.”

And for someone who’s never actually fallen in or properly been in love, Harry thinks she’s quite good at fighting the good fight (for fate and soulmates). She is the unofficial cheerleader of the True Love campaign. Now, if she could just get Louis to realize this and fall madly in love with her quick wit and dry humor, she could truly consider herself the Cupid of the sea (and also the most accomplished mermaid of all the kingdoms) and begin procreating with her.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to help those two idiots fall in love, right?” Louis shrugs. “I mean, Niall’s already halfway there and it’s not like Zayn’s going to find anyone who’ll love her if they found out she was a human three days ago.”

Harry throws her hands in the air and lets out a long, exasperated groan, flapping her fin in frustration. At this rate she’s going to have to write Louis an entire book on the in’s-and-out’s of true love. “Zayn’s not supposed to fall in love with her as a last resort, you dolt. She’s supposed to get to know Niall and realize that she’s sweet and funny and the nicest mermaid in the world.”

“But if they’re not soulmates, being sweet and funny won’t get Niall anywhere.”

“What?” Harry pauses. Not because she’d misunderstood Louis, but because Louis actually made sense for once.

“I don’t know,” Louis shrugs. “You’re just always going on about soulmates and fate and, like, if all of that exists, then why do we need to force Niall and Zayn together? Isn’t it just kinda supposed to happen all on its own?”

“We’re not _forcing_ them together,” Harry defends easily. “We’re just going to help them learn all of the best parts of one another in comfortable, romantic environments. Speed up the process a bit, is all.”

“And this has absolutely nothing to do with the royal ball next weekend, does it?”

Harry feels a nervous little twist in her belly. So maybe the whole point of _speeding up the process_ is really to get Niall a date to the ball with her true love – perhaps a marriage proposal some time after, but Harry won't push her luck just yet. Louis doesn't need to know that part, it's completely irrelevant. “Absolutely not,” she lies. Not very well, of course, because Louis’ quite intimidating and Harry has no real self control. “But if Niall happens to ask a certain ex-human princess to be her date then that's just one of the many benefits of them realizing that they’re soulmates.”

Louis shakes her head and begins swimming out of the room. Harry follows right behind her without so much as a second thought. "What makes you so sure that they're soulmates anyway?" Louis asks.

"I don't know," Harry says. "I just don't think it's _only_ a coincidence that they stumbled into each other's lives the way that they did. I mean – a shipwreck and Zayn dying and your mum having that potion—" Harry stops in the middle of the hall to shake Louis by her shoulders and maybe somehow rub off even a modicum of the nauseating excitement she's experiencing. "That's _fate_ , Lou!" she shrills in Louis' face. "How can't you see it!?"

And despite Harry yelling in her face, Louis just stares back at her calmly and says, "So me being there – that also had to be fate, right? If I wasn’t racing with Liam by the rocks that day, those two love birds never would’ve met. _We_ wouldn't have met."

"I – I guess so, yeah,” Harry stutters. “Technically, yeah, you are fate as well."

Harry can feel a warm blush quickly heating up her cheeks. Oh, gosh, her face is probably as red as the shells she's wearing around her neck today. _How mortifying_. This is what she gets for bringing up fate around the only mermaid she's ever wanted to hug tails with.

"That's... _interesting_ ," Louis hums softly, head tilted to the side in thought. She brushes her fringe out of her face and smiles. “Fate and soulmates, huh?”

There’s musical lightness to her voice that makes Harry’s belly tickle. She wants to listen to Louis talk all the time just so she can be around her and listen to the raspy softness of her voice when she says words like _fate_ and _soulmates_ and _Harold stop staring like that, you tit, let’s get something to eat I’m starving_.

Yes. Definitely destined to be together.

~

The next morning Louis finds herself in the far outskirts of the city, crouched painfully behind some seagrass and very grumpy.

“Sweet Neptune, Harold, do you have to take up so much room?” she grumbles, wriggling around in a pathetic attempt to get comfortable. She knows there’s no hope in trying, because Harry’s tail is fucking gigantic and green and painfully obvious no matter how much seagrass they try to hide behind. The girl has obviously never stalked mermaids before. She knows nothing about subtlety.

“Sorry sorry sorry,” Harry apologizes, scooting over to give Louis some more room. “Come here, get in front of me.”

“As much as I would love to, babe, I don’t think we came all the way here to—”

“Oh, _hush_ ,” Harry interrupts. She pulls Louis in by the waist and forces her in front, pressed against her chest. “Better?” she asks, and Louis doesn’t miss the faintest hint of doubt in her voice.

Louis claps her hand over Harry’s hovering by her waist and hums, “Much.” Harry’s completely bare today (as usual) so when Louis leans back she can feel the soft shape of her breasts against her back, covered only by the long curls of her hair. That’s not so bad either.

Harry tucks her chin over Louis’ shoulder and whispers close to her ear, “Are you going to at least _pretend_ that you care about this mission?”

“You care enough for the both of us, H. I don’t see why you need my help.”

“Then why did you come along in the first place?” Harry pouts. “I thought you were on Team Fate.”

Louis twists some grass between her fingers and shrugs nonchalantly. “Liam’s preparing for the ball and me sisters are all at school. I just wanted to hang out with you, is all.”

“Well, as long as I wasn’t your last choice,” Harry huffs sardonically.

Louis covers her giggle with the back of her hand and tries her very best to focus on the task at hand. (Which is not easy at all with the way Harry is pressed up against her and how she rubs her fin against Louis unconsciously, twisting them together in a hug.) They’ve been crouched down here for almost fifteen minutes and so far all they’ve witnessed is Zayn flipping upside down every four seconds and occasionally almost dying because she keeps forgetting that she hasn’t got lungs anymore. For a princess, Zayn’s not exactly the sharpest coral in the reef. Louis’ seen better coordination from her little sister – and much worse coordination from Harry, so maybe it’s not all bad.

Niall’s been trying to teach Zayn how to swim properly – she’s apparently just been dragging Zayn around since she woke up from her transition yesterday – but by the looks of it she hasn’t been doing a very good job. And Zayn’s _seriously_ going to need to perfect her swimming if she plans on adjusting to life under the sea. It’s only slightly essential to the whole mermaid thing.

“This is almost painful to watch,” Louis groans aloud just as Zayn looses her balance for the 900th time. “I can’t do it, I can’t watch.”

Harry sighs forlornly, shaking her head. “It’s like Ni’s afraid to _touch her_ or something. I don’t understand.”

And from what Louis’ learned in the last few days around Niall, the girl definitely does not shy from any opportunity to hug and hold hands and throw herself at people. She practically jumped on Louis’ lap the first night, apropos of nothing. So to see her so awkward and hesitant around the one person she should be most touchy with, just makes Louis feel like cringing.  

“You know what?” Louis pulls away from Harry’s hold – steadfastly ignoring Harry’s indignant little _heeey_ – and swims aside. “Watch and learn, sweetcheeks.”

Just as Harry’s about to ask Louis what on earth she’s on about, Louis begins flicking her tail rapidly. It starts a small current in the water, one that Louis only encourages further with her bright blue tail as she works faster and faster. Soon enough Harry finds herself being pushed by the water as well and has to grab onto some grass just to hold herself steady.

“Is it working?” Louis asks, pointing her chin to the other side of the field.

Harry turns around and stretches her neck just in time to see Niall being pushed by the water into Zayn. “It’s working!” Harry squeals in joy.

Louis continues flipping her fin back and forth and Harry watches as Zayn wraps her arms around Niall’s neck and clings onto her. Harry very nearly breaks into a cheer right then, and when Niall goes to place her hands on Zayn’s hips, she actually does let out a very loud, very embarrassing squeal off the top of her lungs.

Loud enough to catch Niall and Zayn’s attention, apparently, and have them snapping their heads in Harry’s direction. “Haz?” Niall calls out in confusion. “You there?”

“Oh, for Neptune’s sake, Harold, you had one bloody job!” Louis hisses.

Before Harry can protest, Louis is tugging on her wrist and dragging her away, swimming hastily through the field. They swim and they swim and Harry would turn her head to see if Niall and Zayn were behind them if she weren't sure it would result in her neck snapping. Or Louis yelling at her. Again. Either way her heart is beating much too fast in her chest and she still kind of wants to squeak out high pitched cries and vomit, a bit.

It's not until the city finally comes into view that Louis slows down and they swim toward the Tomlinson castle at a more reasonable speed. Harry's just barely caught her breath when she looks down and realizes that Louis' still holding her hands – holding her hand and intertwining their fingers and swimming right beside her with her shiny blue tail and her belly ring and a smile on her face so wide. Harry is definitely going to die. She can't say she lived a poor life.

"What's so funny?" Harry asks beside her, confused.

Louis purses her lips and shakes her head, fondly rolling her eyes. It kind of looks like her face may break from trying to hide back her grin. Harry thinks she looks very pretty like that; it highlights her cheekbones ridiculously. "Nothing, H, don't worry about it. Are you staying over for dinner again?”

Since the Zayn fiasco began a few days prior, Louis and Niall have been staying at the Tomlinson castle. It didn’t make much sense to swim back and forth between the Styles and Tomlinson kingdoms every day while waiting to see if the potion would work, so they’ve informally settled down without question until further notice. Luckily it’s given Harry a lot of time to finally get to know Louis personally. Like the way she scrunches up nose when Queen Jay (still) forces her to eat her seaweed or how she asks the baby shrimp by her bedroom window to help her pick out her belly jewel for the day. Today it’s a jade green color that suspiciously matches her the shells on her chest just perfectly.

Harry sneaks a quick glance at Louis’ chest – grinning wickedly – before quickly looking up and nodding her head. “Yeah, I think so. Mum hasn’t sent the royal guard after me yet so I should be okay.”

“Silly girl,” Louis shakes her head, but it's soft and fond nonetheless.

So they swim their way through the streets, occasionally stopping when someone recognizes heir to the throne, Princess Louis, or when Louis gets distracted by something she wants to show Harry. She claims it’s her way of making sure that Harry doesn’t go back home speaking poorly of all that the Tomlinson Sea has to offer, but Harry’s pretty sure she’s just trying to extend their time alone together. Louis holds her hand the entire time, though, so Harry doesn’t have much to complain about. She likes it here with Louis. (She likes everything about Louis.)

~

Dinner that night is decidedly not awkward. At least, that’s what Louis keeps telling herself to avoid how truly awkward it really is. All of her sisters are away at school until the royal ball next week, so it’s just her, Harry, Jay and Dan, Liam, and Niall and Zayn. While Harry, bless her soul, spends the entire meal babbling away to Louis’ mum about merbabies and tending to her sponges, Louis eyes the lovebirds sitting across from them suspiciously.  

For some reason unbeknownst to Louis, both girls spend all of dinner in complete silence. They don’t look up from their plates, don’t pitch in when Harry starts talking about the latest coralcrown she’s working on (light blue with navy stones, inspired by Louis), and Neptune forbid they even so much as look at _each other_. Whatever happened in the seagrass fields after Harry and Louis had left was clearly enough to drive them into complete silence. And there’s nothing Louis hates more than being left out of a secret.

That's why when dinner comes to an end, Louis immediately grabs Harry and drags her out of the dining room.

"What is going on in there?!" she hisses in a whisper.

"What are you talking about?" Harry hisses right back, brows furrowed in confusion and lips already pouting. "Was I not supposed to ask your mum about the babies?"

"No, Harry—" Louis groans, pinching her nose, "did you not notice the blatant lack of conversation between a certain two soulmates you're trying to put together? They were literally sat right in front of you!"

A small frown takes over Harry's face as she looks down at her tail sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I was distracted."

"Yes, I noticed that much." Louis waits for one of the maids to swim by them before turning back to Harry. "We need to find out what happened."

"I thought you weren't interested in meddling in others' love lives?"

Louis freezes. "Yes. Well. I'm emotionally invested, now. So. Just shut up and come with me."

For the hundredth time in just the last few days Louis grabs Harry's hand without question and they swim up to the guest room Niall's staying in. It's no surprise that they find her in the corner floating upside down and tossing a pebble in her hands.  

"Ni?" Harry calls out, knocking on the stone entrance to get her attention. "Can we come in?"

Niall glances at them for a moment and shrugs. "Not my castle. You should probably be asking your girlfriend that."

And as much as Louis wants to spontaneously combust at the thought of Harry being her girlfriend, she manages to keep herself collected and swim into the room. (Harry sort of just stays there floating in shock – still an absolutely dreadful actor, honestly.) "You okay?" Louis asks, grabbing the pebble mid-toss and forcing Niall to pay attention to her. "You seemed kind of quiet at dinner."

Niall flips around to look at Louis properly. She sighs, frowning. "Would you be upset if you woke up tomorrow and found out you were a human?"

That's not really what Louis was expecting, but. "What do you mean?" she asks.

"Like. If you had legs all of a sudden and had to do human things and live on land – how upset would you be?"

" _Niall_ —" Harry coos from the other side of the room. She quickly makes her way to Louis' side and at least she's forgotten about the mention of girlfriends, even though she looks like she's overcome with guilt now.

"Do you think we did the right thing by saving Zayn?" Niall blurts out.

And Louis' not really sure how to answer that. Yeah, the four of them probably could have just swam away from the storm and ignored the shipwreck, but they didn't. They saw the fire, they saw Zayn drowning, and when Louis went in to save her, Harry followed right behind her, and they decided to save her. Not just because of Niall's crush, but because she was the one person they could get to in time and Louis, despite everything, wasn't raised to be hateful toward anyone – humans included. They saved her because it was the right thing to do and they saved her because they _could_.

Harry turns to Louis, her soft, round face etched with sadness and concern. Louis finds herself reaching out to brush Harry's wrist lightly, a tender little touch just to show her that she's right there with her. "I do think we did the right thing," Louis answers, eyes never leaving Harry's. "I think we were destined to save her."

There's a moment of silence where Louis can feel Niall glancing at her and Harry in confusion, probably wondering at what point in the last four days Louis turned into Harry.

Eventually Harry breaks eye contact with Louis and turns to her friend. "Zayn's just upset right now," she says as softly as she can. "Her entire world's been turned upside down, Ni. She just needs a while to adjust, love, and that has nothing to with you. We did the right thing – you know that. Just give her some time. She'll come around."

Niall lets out a shaky sigh. She looks down at her tail, a more faded orange color today. Sadder, almost. The sheen and sparkle of a mermaid's tail tends to directly reflect her mood at the time. and right now Niall's looks like she's given up on life. She runs her fingers over her scales sadly and tries very hard not to think about how hopeless Zayn had sounded after their swimming lesson today.

Harry doesn't miss this, of course, and immediately pulls her best friend into a tight hug, almost like she's trying to physically squeeze the sadness out of her. "It'll get better, Ni," Harry promises into her hair. "How about we all go into the city with Lou tomorrow and do some sightseeing? Do you think Zayn would like that?"

Niall hooks her chin over Harry's shoulder and shrugs. "I guess. I don't know."

"It'll be fun," Louis adds on, catching her eye and smiling. "We can even drag Liam along. She's quite popular with the dolphin crowd, you know. I'm sure Zayn'll have a laugh."

Harry looks over her shoulder and says to her warningly, "You better not be using her as a sexual target for ridicule, Lewis."

"Oh, bug off. Those dolphins would jump through a ring of fire if Liam asked them so. She's like their unofficial Virgin Queen or whatever. They're like a cult, but less productive."

Niall barks out a loud laugh, snorting in shock and pulling away from Harry's embrace to keep herself upright in laughter. "I honestly do not wanna know how you two came to know that, mate."

"There's lots of dolphins in the Sea of Payne," Louis shrugs. "They're very... _affectionate_ creatures. It's kind of hard to miss."

And even though they get off topic for almost half an hour about _just_ how (inappropriately) affectionate dolphins really are, Niall does eventually agree to go out tomorrow and the spend the rest of the night planning out the next few days' adventures. And when Harry and Louis leave Niall's room to let her get a good night's rest for tomorrow's escapades, Niall's bright orange tail is back to glowing happily.

~

Over the next few days, Mission Fate officially goes into full force. Harry and Louis spend an unnecessary amount of time planning out every meal, trip, city-tour, bump in the halls, and goodnight embrace. It's very tiring – sometimes exhausting Harry out to the point where she just spends the night in Louis' room (Louis is well aware that it's mostly for the cuddles, but she continues to let Harry lie her way into her bed because she's warm and touchy and always tells the most nonsensical bedtime stories). (The one about the sponge and starfish is Louis' favorite.)

So far they've managed to help Zayn perfect her swimming – even managing to stay upright the entire time – and become comfortable enough around them to share a few stories about her life back home. She's still adjusting, obviously, but Louis thinks the realization that she's "stuck" hasn't fully sunk in yet, doesn't think it will for a while. For now, they're all getting used to the idea of Zayn being around as well as helping her acquaint herself with the things they've known their entire lives.

Like the fact that she can now understand all the languages of the sea, which proved rather amusing the first day when they went to go see some dolphins. The look on her face at their vulgarity was enough to have Niall choking on her laughter, nearly losing her breath and passing out there.

And speaking of Niall, if there's anything that Harry and Louis (with the occasional support of a reluctant Liam – still unhappy about the dolphin visit) have accomplished over the last few days, it's getting Niall to become even more enamored with Zayn. Sometimes Louis will catch the two of them holding hands while they're out shopping, usually unaware that they're even doing so. (Harry's always the one to point it out, but that's probably because she's glued to Louis' side at all times, has no real knowledge of what personal space means.) And Niall's finally gotten over her initial hesitancy, enough to hug Zayn in the mornings and before bed the way she does with all the other girls. They're more comfortable now, constantly talking and comparing royalty experiences and explaining to the other about what their respective worlds are like.

And then there's Harry, who watches over them like a hawk. A gushing, mother hawk with her hands clasped together underneath her chin and eyeing them so proudly. There's never a quiet or dull moment with Harry around, and she takes a lot of pride in that. Every time Zayn even so much as laughs at one of Niall's jokes, Louis' body already knows to immediately expect for Harry to squeeze her tail or grab her hand or rest her head on Louis' shoulder and sigh dreamily, _"Aren't they so cute?"_

Princess Harry of the Kingdom of Styles is funny and cute and snorts when she laughs sometimes, has an insatiable appetite for cuddles and doesn't believe in covering up her perky little boobies. (Louis is a fan of those also, unsurprisingly, but it's hard not to be when Harry is a self-proclaimed nudist with a taste for rainbow-colored seashells and coralcrowns that push back her lovely fringe.)

Louis feels like she gets along with Harry so seamlessly that it's difficult to believe they've really only known each other for a little over a week now. Harry will go to hold her hand and Louis doesn't even have to think twice about lacing their fingers together. Sometimes they finish each other's sentences and eat off one another's plates, and still no one bats an eye. They've managed to fit into one another's lives so quickly, so easily, that Louis can't remember a time where she didn't have Harry to hold her while she sleeps or kissing her forehead at breakfast or giggle into her shoulder when she tells a joke.

And that's how Louis finds herself with an unofficial date to the annual royal ball for the first time in years.

~

"I'm just saying. You can't expect Niall to follow your advice if you don't even know how to ask someone out yourself."

Louis glares at Liam sitting across from her. "What the hell are you talking about, Liam?"

"I'm talking about the mermaid who's been on your tail from the very minute you met her," Liam says. She tosses a tiny pebble at Louis' head and rolls her eyes. "You think maybe you two could take a break from meddling into others' lives to perhaps realize what's going in your own?"

"You know, for someone so popular with the most erotic animals of the sea, you're not a very fun mermaid," Louis sighs. "Also, shut up."

Louis Tomlinson is not stupid. She's quite good at maths and foreign relations and gets along very well with everyone from the papa seahorses to the killer whales. She has a pair of working eyes and enough common sense to put one and two together. So when Liam addresses her about her love life, she's a bit offended that her friend actually thinks she's unaware of Harry's incessant affection. The other princess has literally proclaimed aloud that Louis' the best mermaid she's ever met. On more than one occasion.

Louis is not stupid.

"Are you going to ask Harry to the ball tonight or not?" Liam asks. "I can't keep postponing your seating arrangements just so you can swim around with your girlfriend like school children."

And yeah, okay, so Louis' belly still gets a little jittery at the mention of _girlfriend_. It's just that she's never _had one_ before, is the thing. The love lives of royalty are gossiped about like nothing else under the sea, and when it's that of the person next in line, it's about 16,000 times worse. Niall's got it easy with Greg ahead of her, but Louis' well aware of the spotlight that's shining on her. Who she walks into the room with at the ball tonight is going to be the talk of the kingdom for a long time after, and Louis' quite sure it's Harry she wants to be seen with. (At the ball and otherwise.)

Scratch that. She's _positive_ it's Harry she wants to be seen with. There is literally no other mermaid out there for her. (And she's been to all the kingdoms of the sea, so it's not exposure she's lacking.)

"It just feels _weird_ asking her out," Louis confesses, biting at her lip as she mulls it over. "Like, Harry and I just... We just kinda happened, ya know? Asking her to be my date feels so... _formal_. That's not what we are."

"You're not a normal mermaid couple, then?"

Louis shakes her head. "No, we're not. We're like – _oh Neptune—_ " She cuts herself off before she can even finish her thought, completely mortified. Harry's definitely rubbed off on her in more way than one.

"You're like soulmates?" Liam finished for her knowingly.

"I—"

Louis looks up and finds Liam smiling at her now. It's soft and understanding, little crinkles by her big brown eyes when she goes to hold Louis' hand in hers. "Look at your fin, Lou."

Louis does as she's told and flips her tail up to get a view of her fin, just as Liam had told her.

"Your mum never told you about what happens when a mermaid's tail sparkles like that, did she?"

Louis shakes her head.

"C'mhere," Liam instructs, and Louis scoots over to her side. Liam picks up the bottom of her tail and sits it on her lap. "You see how your fin kinda has a golden sparkle to it now?"

Louis squints her eyes and leans down for a better look. _Well_. How she missed her bright blue fin gaining little golden flecks is beyond her. Maybe she's not as smart as she thought.

"What the fuck is that about?" Louis blurts out.

" _Well_ , legend says that when a mermaid finds his or her soulmate, her fin will slowly gain a golden sparkle. Over time, once they fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together, it'll go completely gold."

Louis' eyes widen and a lump forms in her throat. "Why the fuck have I never heard of this before, Liam!" she shrieks.

"Most mermaids don't find their soulmates," Liam shrugs. "Usually they just settle for what they have, because no one knows how long it'll take to meet your soulmate. Everyone doesn't have the time to wait around, so they don't. You can fall in love with lots of people, but it doesn't mean they're your soulmate."

Louis' heart skips a little faster in her chest. She runs her fingers over the soft, silky material of her fin. "So this – this _golden thing_ ," she breathes. "Is that – do you think that's because of Hazza, then? Is she the one for me?"

"Well it's sure as hell not Zayn," Liam scoffs.

Louis punches her in the arm. Just because Liam is apparently all-knowing in the true love department, doesn't mean sarcasm bodes well with her.

"Do you think H knows about this as well?" Louis asks hesitantly.

"Of course she does, Louis. Why do you think she's been clinging into you? Her fin's been turning gold since the shipwreck. How haven't you noticed that?"

And Louis – he's truly not sure how she did miss that. To be fair, she usually distracted by Harry's boobs or her big eyes or the soft curve of her tiny waist. She hasn't had time to thoroughly inspect Harry's fin these last few days, but apparently Liam has.

 _Shit_.

"The girl knows what she's talking about when she babbles about fate and soulmates, you know."

Louis looks up at her friend and sighs. "Why am I not surprised?"

~

Louis is nervous. Louis is nervous and alone and swimming the halls of her castle trying to remember how to breathe again. She hasn't had a chance to see Harry since she'd come back from lunch by reefs with Liam, and as result she hasn't had an opportunity to address the other princess about the whole golden fin and soulmates thing. Which is fine, like, it totally doesn't matter that Louis is 20 years old and has just realized that the mermaid she's been cuddling up to for the last two weeks is actually her soulmate. Which is also apparently a super rare occurrence in the mermaid world, especially at so young an age.

It's no big deal. It's whatever. Completely fine. Louis is totally not freaking out or anything. Cool as a clam, this princess.

But then Harry comes strutting into the hallway looking for her and Louis' resolve falls apart right then and there.

She is so completely fucked if the mermaid she's destined to spend the rest of her life with is also the most beautiful creature to ever swim the seas.

"Lou!" Harry calls out, quickly swimming over to her. "I've been looking everywhere for you, c'mon!" She greet Louis with a kiss to her cheek and a tight embrace, pulling back only to get a better look at her. "You look so beautiful, Lou," she smiles, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Your belly jewel matches your crown," she giggles.

Louis looks down and – yup. That's the golden jewel Liam had picked out for her. To match her golden crown. And her golden fucking fin.

"I love that color on you," Harry whispers.

"You do?"

"Mhm," Harry nods. She slides her hands down Louis' arms to lace their fingers together. "Suits you well."

Louis looks up at her from underneath her eyelashes, not missing out on the mischievous little quirk of Harry's pillowy lips. "You're going to drag this out of me, aren't you Harold?"

Harry giggles, preening happily. She nods her head and wiggles her tail, probably trying to be subtle about just how excited she is. She's really not; not even close on her best day.

"I've been waiting for you to catch up for some time now, Lou."

"You could have just pointed it out to me, you know." Louis rolls her eyes, maybe smiling just the smallest bit.

"Oh, yes. You _totally_ would've believed a crazy mermaid like me coming up to you and lecturing you about how we're _destined_ to be together," Harry says sarcastically. "Neptune knows you're _sooo_ big on fate."

"I'm big on _you_ ," Louis corrects.

This time it's Harry who looks up from underneath her eyelashes, blushing furiously. _She's so fucking cute_ , Louis thinks, with her giant eyes and her puffy lips and her dimples like craters. It's wrong for someone to look as sweet as Princess Harry actually is.

"Can I see your tail?" Louis asks after a beat of silence.

"Um – yeah, I just—"

Harry brings her fin up to her face and Louis feels like her own might break from how hard she's smiling. Harry's got giant speckles of gold all over her beautiful green fin, a bright emerald color today like her eyes. It almost hurts to look at, how brightly it sparkles and compliments Harry's green color. Louis' never seen anything like it.

"Do you like it?" Harry asks sheepishly.

Louis doesn't bother answering, instead just cups Harry's face in between her hands and pulls her in for a kiss, long and hard and desperate, eager to express to her beautiful soulmate just how much she really likes it; likes everything about her. She tightens her arms around Harry's neck and smiles into her soft mouth when she fits her own around Louis' waist and kisses her back. Louis can feel the smile on her lips and the giddiness of her mouth when she licks into Louis'. They kiss and their tails twist together and Louis forgets that there's the kingdom's royal ball to be at because Harry tastes like golden sunshine and fate and the girls of Louis' dreams.

So sometimes fate unfolds as it should.

~

Later that night when Niall and Zayn are twirling together in the middle of the ballroom Louis notices a flicker of gold catching her eye. She points it out to Harry, who spends about an hour or so giggling widely and clapping her hands. At least she doesn't rub into Louis' face.

They decide to let them figure it out on their own.

**Author's Note:**

> i wonder what my mom would think if she knew i spent the week before school writing about lesbian mermaid princesses i hope she's proud
> 
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> [tumblr](http://tornorrows.tumblr.com/)


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